Author Topic: Radical environmental work - help wanted  (Read 6428 times)

SisterX

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Radical environmental work - help wanted
« on: October 31, 2018, 05:45:58 PM »
On the IPCC climate report thread we (I) started talking about the fact that this group of smart, dedicated, caring people with many talents and skills, and collectively a lot of resources should actually be doing something to help our planet and, thus, the people and creatures on it. Many of us do so much in our personal lives to reduce consumption and to make the eco-friendly choices. We buy products that are "green" and buy fewer things so that there aren't as many emissions spent making what is, in the end, garbage.

However, it has become clear that more needs to be done. Much, much more. We need radical actions and we need them now. I'm not talking about becoming a valve turner here (although if you feel moved to do that, I won't stop you) but instead radical acts of restoration.

So much of our wildlands is under threat and I think that with our collective resources we could make an actual difference in that. Putting our money, time, and energies toward rewilding and reforesting, in addition to urban projects that would create better and more sustainable cities (such as urban gardening and animal husbandry/beekeeping projects) we could have such a positive impact on our world. Reviving wetlands, adding forest land, restoring native grasslands. Even on small scales these can have such huge impacts for wildlife. Migratory birds and insects need their natural habitats along their routes. Animals need natural habitats for homes. Even small things, like planting hedgerows around fields, can significantly increase the biodiversity of an area. Swales can be used effectively in deserts to not only stave off desertification but also to create forests where there wasn't one, and where it was thought they couldn't grow. Permaculture has many great ideas for making marginal or "inhospitable" lands livable and even life-sustaining.

We can invest in microgrids, particularly in poorer areas to reduce inequality, and we could start in areas that are mostly reliant on coal. We can raise up urban farms that also offer things like cooking and gardening classes in the neighborhood where they are, to help people eat more vegetables and overcome many of the detrimental effects of poverty. This will help us all since lifestyle illnesses take so much from society and are disturbingly costly.

Instead of arguing about malaria nets vs. food in the third world, how about we help stop the habitat destruction that's going to create (is creating) climate refugees and wars? This is the biggest threat to anyone and everyone on our planet. How about we invest in our planet and our future? Many of us have kids, or at the very least there are children in our lives whom we care about, and we know that what we're doing is not enough to give them the futures we want. This doesn't even have to be about climate change, per se, but the effects of pollution itself are well known. It makes us dumber, fatter, sicker. You, me, your kids, my kids, everyone. Not a single human on this planet is immune to the effects of pollution. Why are the collective we not doing more and raising more of a ruckus about this? Well, if you've ever wanted to do that but haven't figured out how, here's your chance.

Introduce yourselves. What skills might you offer? What would it take to get such a project off the ground, and how should we go about doing this? How do we limit the carbon produced to get this going (via ground and air transport)? I'm thinking that we'd have to implement projects on a local scale, with input from everyone interested to crowdsource ideas so that a few people already in a place can get them going.

What ideas would you really like to see implemented, and how?

Hat tip to @chaskavitch @Malaysia41 @scottish @sol @magnet18 @norabird @PoutineLover @diapasoun

JoshuaSpodek

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2018, 06:33:13 AM »
Folks, I've never lived better than now. The changes I've made to live by my environmental values have improved my life more than I could have expected or imagined.

I write the following without pride or shame, but just sharing low-hanging fruit available for nearly anyone to do that has enriched my life and I wish I had done earlier. Also to share the resources I can contribute (mainly the media platform).

Took 16 months to fill a load of garbage to empty, mainly from avoiding packaged food. http://joshuaspodek.com/year-emptied-garbage

Haven't flown in 2.5 years (learning to sail for next trip to Europe) https://www.inc.com/joshua-spodek/365-days-without-flying.html

Have picked up at least one piece of trash per day to clean streets https://www.inc.com/joshua-spodek/a-millennial-making-america-clean-again.html

Post on the environment a lot in my Inc. column https://www.inc.com/author/joshua-spodek

Switched from jogging to plogging http://joshuaspodek.com/17-creative-weekend-routines-happier

Haven't eaten meat since 1990

Almost all my food from my CSA http://joshuaspodek.com/delicious-reason-community-supported farmers market and bulk food store

Ecological footprint: 0.4 earths http://joshuaspodek.com/my-ecological-footprint

Use the air conditioner and heater for a few hours per year (despite having to pay for my building's central air)

Typical average daily electrical use: < 1.3 kWh http://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/coned.png

Started a podcast to bring leadership to environmental action (not just telling people what to do) http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast

Incidentally, my diet is more delicious, inexpensive, convenient, varied, and local than ever. It's helped me become more fit than ever, enjoying defined abs at 47 years old.

I already to a lot of public speaking. As a result of learning to cook from scratch, companies are paying me to speak on sustainability including cooking. Here are pictures from an event where I cooked for 50 people with no packaging from my cooking (though the company got alcohol sponsorship): https://www.flickr.com/gp/fahertybrand/1H3090

I'm meeting sustainability people at a major fossil fuel company in Houston and fast food company in Atlanta to help them transition their culture

I've been invited to help a major clothing retailer to help reduce their waste

Top guest downloads on the podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast

    Seth Godin, multiple #1 bestseller, teacher, marketer, 11+ million TED talk views
    Dan Pink, multiple #1 bestseller, 40+ million TED talk views
    Marshall Goldsmith, #1 ranked leadership guru and author
    Frances Hesselbein, Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree
    Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
    Ken Blanchard, author, The One Minute Manager, over 13 million sold
    Jonathan Haidt, #1 bestselling author, 8+ million TED talk views
    Vincent Stanley, Director, Patagonia
    David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, over 1 million sold
    Dorie Clark, bestselling author
    Jordan Harbinger, top 5 podcast, 4+ million monthly downloads
    Bryan Braman, Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagle
    Marquis Flowers, Super Bowl highlight reel star New England Patriot
    John Lee Dumas, top entrepreneurial podcaster
    Alisa Cohn, top 100 speaker and coach
    David Biello, Science Curator for TED
    Andrew Revkin, award-winning National Geographic and New York Times journalist
    Geoffrey West, Time Magazine “100 most influential people" theoretical physicist turned TED speaker

Our first in-person expert panel featured

    Vincent Stanley, Director Patagonia
    Robin Nagle, TED speaker, author, NYU professor
    RJ Khalaf, Dalai Lama fellow, TEDx speaker

Coming soon:

 West Point's head of leadership department
 West Point head of environmental engineering department
 First woman on an Americas Cup boat and winner of Americas Cup
 Nobel Peace Prize winner
 Olympic medalist
 
We've gotten social media support from Leonardo Di Caprio's foundation: https://twitter.com/dicapriofdn/status/1048989458027016193

If people step up to lead, I'd love to feature on my podcast or Inc. column. I'd love to feature MMM himself if anyone is in touch to nudge him.

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2018, 10:03:51 AM »
These are great, but I was thinking more along the lines of what we, as a collective group of people, could do. Buying up some land in California and trying to see if we can get more redwoods to grow. Creating more grasslands in the Midwest. Working on coastal erosion. What are your ideas?

It would be a lot of work, far beyond what any one person could feasibly do. At this point, that seems to be our best option. Individual actions are having a marginal effect and are easily dismissed. "Oh, one person doing something doesn't make a difference, why bother?" is a very common theme not only against voting but also against doing things that will help the environment. So my proposal is that we all get together and work on some big projects, while maintaining the small ones in our everyday lives. Those are important--very!--but doing something collective will have a far larger impact.

haypug16

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2018, 11:42:13 AM »
I really love this idea and would love to be involved I just don't know what I can do to help. :/

diapasoun

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2018, 11:59:58 AM »
So, we've got some concrete possibilities already brought up here and in the original IPCC thread:

1. Buy and manage a plot (or multiple plots) of land for re-wilding, or otherwise support re-wilding.

2. Invest in microgrids.

3. Create/support urban farms, especially those offering cooking or gardening classes (NB there are already programs that do this in multiple cities).

4. Create/support community gardens.

5. Support the community efforts in Detroit mentioned in lhamo's link.

Other ideas? Two of my housemates are dating marine biologists, so I can also poke their brains for things involving supporting our oceans, etc.

I think it really boils down to how much effort everyone's willing to put in. There are other organizations out there already doing some of this work; we could easily select an organization and fund it ("The Mustachian Grant for Re-Wilding" etc). We could also create our own, which involves a great deal of effort from boots-on-the-ground work to stereotypical non-profit management issues. I think the first is something we could do easily without any problems; the latter will involve a lot more planning.

smalllife

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2018, 12:05:38 PM »
I think we can kill two birds with one stone.  Green spaces and social areas are proven to reduce stress, increase the resilience of neighborhoods, and a whole host of other things.

If I was in charge of a superfund, I would be buying vacant lots in cities and doing several things depending on the size and location.

1.  Pocket parks, with an emphasis on trees and pollinating flowers. 

2.  Community gardens and allotments for locals, this time with fruit trees if possible

3.  Wildflower meadows with meadering paths for the public to enjoy, and a few sitting areas

Another option I've been thinking through is how localities treat the medians, sides of roads, etc.   A campaign to turn these into meadows, rain catchments, or foraging areas (depending on size, location, etc.) would go a long way towards improving the water run off, green spaces (see above), and perhaps food resiliency as well.

I have seen pieces and parts of this done in other cities, does anyone know any organizations already doing this?  If I didn't have to re-invent the wheel I would already be diving in with both feet ....

Hirondelle

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2018, 12:22:31 PM »
Great initiative SisterX! I'd love to buy some plot but unfortunately my NW is around 26k and I'm across an ocean. But hey I'll support the mission :). I do like Diapasouns list a lot too!

I work(ed) in schooling and academic environments so this is where I could come up with most ideas. Some things I thought of that are doable by parents or employees that are involved in school boards or even just get an evaluation form once in a while:

- Encourage catereers at workplaces or universities or schools to offer vegetarian (or even vegan) food by default. Meat is available but has to be requested just like allergies do. This has been done at at least two universities in my country. Another option is 'meat free monday', where university canteens wouldn't sell any meat (it was still allowed to bring in your own meaty lunch). I know there's some discussion on to what extent we 'should' all go vegetarian or vegan but I think we can all agree that the current consumption levels are unsustainable and that a reduction would be good.

- Walk/bike to school options. This will heavily depend on the area and the infrastructure but I think it would be great for both fitness levels and the environment to set up things like "walk/bike to school week" where children get encouraged and rewarded for every day they got to school by bike or foot. This could btw also be done at workplaces. My own workplace had special information stands that promoted a "low-car diet" - employees could get extra compensation if they traveled to work by public transport rather than car.

- Get involved in your local government and lobby for bike paths, sidewalks and other sustainable end goals would be a next step and an excellent goal for FIREes I guess?

PoutineLover

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2018, 12:49:13 PM »
I bet a lot of cities already have some of these initiatives, so we don't even have to reinvent the wheel. I wonder if together we could gather say all the cities or programs that already do urban gardening, summarize what they do, what works best, what's a good model for other places, and create a sort of "best practices" blueprint that could be replicated and personalized for any city. Repeat for any other useful initiative. We'd make a website that users can contribute to and willing volunteers in a variety of places could populate it. My city happens to have a lot of parks and green space already, and we have urban gardens, so I'm sure I could find some information that might be relevant to other people.

gaja

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2018, 02:40:41 PM »
I bet a lot of cities already have some of these initiatives, so we don't even have to reinvent the wheel. I wonder if together we could gather say all the cities or programs that already do urban gardening, summarize what they do, what works best, what's a good model for other places, and create a sort of "best practices" blueprint that could be replicated and personalized for any city. Repeat for any other useful initiative. We'd make a website that users can contribute to and willing volunteers in a variety of places could populate it. My city happens to have a lot of parks and green space already, and we have urban gardens, so I'm sure I could find some information that might be relevant to other people.

I believe the bolded part is one of the most efficient things we can do. Not just for urban gardens, but for all types of measures. Campaigning for political goals will only take us a small part of the way. Both public and private actors need easy recipes that they can replicate. Just yesterday I had a meeting with real estate developers and producers of building materials. They really want to do the right thing for climate, but find it difficult to navigate in the vast flood of information that is out there. Sometimes it is the tiny details that make a big difference - like providing the exact wording the municipality should use when purchasing fossile free vehicles, or making a tool for institution cooks that shows them how to make climate friendly menus, and calculates how much of each ingredient they need to buy. 

A group of regions and municipalities in Europe are working on a ideas exchange forum for climate measures. It is brand new, so there are not a lot of stuff on it yet, but hopefully it will grow. Anyone can join the forum and share their ideas: https://pentahelix.eu/climate-forum-7/

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2018, 05:39:32 PM »
I bet a lot of cities already have some of these initiatives, so we don't even have to reinvent the wheel. I wonder if together we could gather say all the cities or programs that already do urban gardening, summarize what they do, what works best, what's a good model for other places, and create a sort of "best practices" blueprint that could be replicated and personalized for any city. Repeat for any other useful initiative. We'd make a website that users can contribute to and willing volunteers in a variety of places could populate it. My city happens to have a lot of parks and green space already, and we have urban gardens, so I'm sure I could find some information that might be relevant to other people.

I believe the bolded part is one of the most efficient things we can do. Not just for urban gardens, but for all types of measures. Campaigning for political goals will only take us a small part of the way. Both public and private actors need easy recipes that they can replicate. Just yesterday I had a meeting with real estate developers and producers of building materials. They really want to do the right thing for climate, but find it difficult to navigate in the vast flood of information that is out there. Sometimes it is the tiny details that make a big difference - like providing the exact wording the municipality should use when purchasing fossile free vehicles, or making a tool for institution cooks that shows them how to make climate friendly menus, and calculates how much of each ingredient they need to buy. 

A group of regions and municipalities in Europe are working on a ideas exchange forum for climate measures. It is brand new, so there are not a lot of stuff on it yet, but hopefully it will grow. Anyone can join the forum and share their ideas: https://pentahelix.eu/climate-forum-7/

Calling @MonkeyJenga - Isn't this kind of thing in your wheelhouse? I know you're suuuuuuper busy right now doing other incredibly important work. However, I'm sure you know of others who could be tagged that would be good at this.

Fresh Bread

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #10 on: November 02, 2018, 04:43:00 AM »
I'm not in the US but want to follow.

A group I'm vaguely attached to is investigating a virtual community based power plant by bulk buying solar panels and batteries. I will report back once I understand what they envisage and thought about other applications.

Also, here in Australia, our Ratesetter P2P lending platform offers loans for green technologies. There may already be something like that in the US where you can assist people who want to go green.

Thinking out loud, I guess there also could be a mustachian fund for people that couldn't otherwise afford the capital. It could be an interest free loan or just a grant for panels, even on social housing with the support of the relevant authorities. Thinking out loud again, a company that offers solar systems (and loans / grants) to renters where they can move the panels with them easily would be a really good idea.  It really bothers me that there is such inequality around power prices - the poorest are the most hurt by increasing prices but have no means of doing anything about it. Sorry for such a brain dump. On phone.

Malaysia41

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2018, 01:24:55 PM »
What do you guys think of joining the Extinction Rebellion?

https://extinctionrebellion.org/

libertarian4321

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2018, 04:45:41 PM »
These are great, but I was thinking more along the lines of what we, as a collective group of people, could do. Buying up some land in California and trying to see if we can get more redwoods to grow. Creating more grasslands in the Midwest. Working on coastal erosion. What are your ideas?


There is already an organization that buys up land and preserves it (including replanting trees and the like).  The Nature Conservancy is my favorite environmental organization because they do it without destroying anything or breaking the law (like those nutty "valve turners" you mentioned). 

https://www.nature.org/en-us/


letired

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2018, 04:46:07 PM »
I don't know if this is as direct as you are imagining, but The Nature Conservancy is a fantastic international organization that does a ton of great work around restoration and preservation of 'wild' land. When I was in research, they were an invaluable partner in terms of stewarding and allowing us access to their lands. There is no way we would have been gotten enough sampling sites without the land they preserve and restore. In addition to donating, you can sign up for their mailing list for events and volunteer opportunities: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/volunteer-and-attend-events/

This seems like a desire where partnering with existing organizations can really multiply ones' effectiveness.

Places to look: your local botanical garden, the ecology or evolution department at your local college or university, your local land trust or agriculture university, your local water provider, city state and national protected lands/parks, Xerces Society (pollinators), the National Wildlife Federation (USA), and of course the World Wildlife Fund. There are also land conservation or land trust groups all over the country, so do a search with those terms plus your local geographic area. In my area, there are state, county, city, and general eco/geographic groups focused on local habitats of importance.

One related volunteer opportunity I find interesting: online distributed citizen science via Zooniverse. You help scientists process their data in various ways.  I can be anything from transcribing historical data or making identifications. Check out their Climate projects: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects?discipline=climate&page=1&status=live

letired

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2018, 04:51:50 PM »
For getting your hand dirty, look for the groups that partner with your local city or municipality. There is a group in my city that does regular tree plantings and maintenance  around here that also partners with the city to do tree giveaways to local homeowners to plant more trees.

Fresh Bread

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2018, 05:12:03 PM »
I really like this movement:

https://www.npr.org/2016/11/18/502167512/how-does-food-become-a-tool-for-connection

Here in the Seattle area, I know we already have the Beacon Hill food forest.  There are old abandoned orchards in Carkeek park where you can pick apples for free (if you are willing/able to lug them back up the hill).  And of course we have tons of blackberries to forage.  But can we do more to create and promote a more edible urban landscape?  Can we find people who are willing to have their parking strips be converted to edible gardens and get them started or even install/manage them for those with limited mobility or interest?  Could we start herb gardens at the local park and rides?  Trying to brainstorm ideas that would work beyond my immediate neighborhood, as we dont have parking strips.  we do get a fair amount of foot traffic (people on their way to/from the BG Trail)....

In Australia we call the practice of planting things on unused land "guerilla gardening". Where there is publicly owned land, people start community gardens, like UK allotments but with a raised bed each and a shared compost. These are often on a scrap of land between things. One near me has developed into a magnificent place.

There is also a strong movement here around verge gardening, where people grow stuff on the strip outside their house. https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/verge-gardening-revolution/ The biggest battle communities seem to have is red tape at local authorities that cite trip hazards, safety concerns of verge grown food, that sort of thing. I think people just get on with it, but every so often planters will get removed or fines issued by the non-cooperative councils. A simple sign saying 'help yourself' is all that is necessary to make it a community thing.

Also there is "Food is Free" and various similar things where surplus produce is left out for anyone to take. I think that one started in the US. In some places it's just like an open food bank.

In combination with things like street libraries they can really improve community spirit.

All these things require grass roots level stuff - an individual or small group in each area. We could create a network that links all these people?

Fresh Bread

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2018, 05:14:13 PM »
These are great, but I was thinking more along the lines of what we, as a collective group of people, could do. Buying up some land in California and trying to see if we can get more redwoods to grow. Creating more grasslands in the Midwest. Working on coastal erosion. What are your ideas?


There is already an organization that buys up land and preserves it (including replanting trees and the like).  The Nature Conservancy is my favorite environmental organization because they do it without destroying anything or breaking the law (like those nutty "valve turners" you mentioned). 

https://www.nature.org/en-us/

What are valve turners?

letired

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2018, 05:39:59 PM »
Um, I don't want to muddy the waters too much, but not all of the land TNC is trying to conserve internationally is "wild" -- in China, at least, most of the areas they are active in has been inhabited by minority groups (largely Tibetan or closely related) for centuries, and in some cases the policies they have advocated have intensified ongoing processes of land rights being taken away from those groups. 

It's complicated, to say the least.  I'm not saying don't support them.  But be sure you understand what you are supporting.

That's a very good point, and why I mentioned researching local land grant organizations! I was attempting to recognize that not everyone on the forum is USA-based :P I deeply appreciate their prairie conservation work in Texas.


Malaysia41

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #19 on: November 07, 2018, 10:15:53 PM »
What do you guys think of joining the Extinction Rebellion?

https://extinctionrebellion.org/

Seriously please check this out. I think this is exactly what this MMM group is cut out for. 

Don't worry - it's not a vegan thing. I write that because I get the sense that some in this group may be averse to the word vegan and/or have associated that word with my name. If that describes you, you can rest assured the link to extinctionrebellion is about direct action for the environment and there's no mention of the v-word AFAIK.

(but also - if the v word is something that repulses you, I suggest you look into the topic further to understand why. "some vegan was mean online once" is not a valid reason to reject a philosophy that can massively improve our chances for survival on this planet).
« Last Edit: November 07, 2018, 10:21:17 PM by Malaysia41 »

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #20 on: November 08, 2018, 11:09:56 AM »
So, something I've been doing in my own yard is making simple, small changes that I can see are actually having some big impacts on my area.

I don't use artificial fertilizers or any pesticides/insecticides/fungicides on my property, as well as cleaning with things like vinegar and baking soda instead of harsh, toxic chemicals. There are huge numbers of insects on my property, it's really fun to see. Turn over and random dirt and there are worms, pill bugs, etc. Spiders, of course, everywhere. But then all the bugs brought birds too, so the trees around us are often teeming with birds.

Planting, in particular, bee-friendly plants and letting native wildflowers grow. Along one fence we have some wildflowers that have taken over and I'm sure others think it looks untidy but man, the number of bees I saw in that one little area all summer was incredible. They also liked it when my mint went to flower, I noticed a large number of honey bees in my yard. I counted, I think, five different species of bee just in my yard.

This year I'm going to put up a bee house for mason bees, hanging it under the eaves of my shed right next to my and my neighbor's fruit trees. (They love fruit trees.) These bees actually do more pollination work than honeybees and are just as threatened.

I'm working on converting much of my lawn to garden space. Not all of it, because kids and dogs, but a lot of it. What yard I do retain is going to be planted in clover eventually. No mowing! No watering to keep it green! (<--We only do the first a couple of times a year, and never do the second.) Bee-friendly flowers! I'm not allergic to it! What's not to love?

I garden. One of the problems with agriculture is how much land we devote to feeding ourselves. Also, how dependent we are upon the system working correctly. As we've seen over the past decade or so with price spikes, insufficient supply systems, and food-borne illnesses, maybe that's not such a good idea? So I garden, both reducing the amount of land needed to feed me/my family and also to not be quite as dependent on the system to provide all our needs. Plus, we eat more veggies this way and that both makes us healthier and less of a drain on the healthcare system. I'd rather leave those resources for people who genuinely can't help their health problems, you know?

We got our house insulated. Just the walls so far (attic still needs to be done) but combining that with keeping our heat down now means that our last bill shows us as being among the efficient neighbors in our area. I'm hoping to kick our neighbors' asses in that realm, and set the new bar for how little energy a family needs to stay warm over the winter.

I bike, and soon I'm going to get a cargo bike so that we can eliminate 95% of our car use even with two small kids.

I'm part of the sharing economy groups in my area, so we're not buying very much new.

This is all just the low-hanging fruit of what I can do on my own property, and taking into account that I live with others. (If it was just me I'd have no supplemental heat, since ours is nat gas and I hate that we're de facto supporting fracking.) If each of us could get even one more person to make small changes like these then things would be a lot less grim.

It's no reason to give up on the big actions, though, and I still want to take action on a lot of those.

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #21 on: November 08, 2018, 04:33:54 PM »
Count me in to help with the environmental work @SisterX. There might be a few people on the gardening and homesteading thread who would be interested also.

A few of the areas that I've done at a local level -
launched recycling programs in elementary and middle school cafeterias,
started 2 school veg gardens (created campaign to raise funds, designed and built raised beds, helped teachers create curriculum around garden)
1 community garden for elderly and disabled,
launched a seed lending library to encourage people to grow their own food and flowers,
launched an annual educational program at library to educate about composting, water harvesting, polinators, medicinal herbs, pollinators, etc
member of a beekeeping club and we participate in local fairs to educate about bees,
make soap that is sold at these events and all proceeds are used to fund booths at the next fair,
mentor new beekeepers,
assisted with lobbying town to overturn its ban on beekeeping.

I'm willing to donate my skills, time and advice to anyone who is interested in doing any of this where they live.


JoshuaSpodek

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #22 on: November 09, 2018, 08:28:43 AM »
These are great, but I was thinking more along the lines of what we, as a collective group of people, could do. Buying up some land in California and trying to see if we can get more redwoods to grow. Creating more grasslands in the Midwest. Working on coastal erosion. What are your ideas?

It would be a lot of work, far beyond what any one person could feasibly do. At this point, that seems to be our best option. Individual actions are having a marginal effect and are easily dismissed. "Oh, one person doing something doesn't make a difference, why bother?" is a very common theme not only against voting but also against doing things that will help the environment. So my proposal is that we all get together and work on some big projects, while maintaining the small ones in our everyday lives. Those are important--very!--but doing something collective will have a far larger impact.

I see you also shared your personal actions, "So, something I've been doing in my own yard is making simple, small changes that I can see are actually having some big impacts on my area."

This thread is showing what usually happens when people consider action without themselves doing something under their control. They overwhelmingly talk about academic, abstract stuff without acting.

Big things do more than small things, but I find the fastest, most effective way to lead people to do big things is to start doing small things.

Everyone reading these words has in mind something he or she wants to do but hasn't. If everyone reading made a SMART goal out of one of those things and achieved it, I bet it would lead to more action on a big thing faster than all the discussion already in this thread because they will have felt the emotional reward of accomplishment, instead of activating their discussion and debate motivations.

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #23 on: November 13, 2018, 09:30:49 PM »
These are great, but I was thinking more along the lines of what we, as a collective group of people, could do. Buying up some land in California and trying to see if we can get more redwoods to grow. Creating more grasslands in the Midwest. Working on coastal erosion. What are your ideas?

It would be a lot of work, far beyond what any one person could feasibly do. At this point, that seems to be our best option. Individual actions are having a marginal effect and are easily dismissed. "Oh, one person doing something doesn't make a difference, why bother?" is a very common theme not only against voting but also against doing things that will help the environment. So my proposal is that we all get together and work on some big projects, while maintaining the small ones in our everyday lives. Those are important--very!--but doing something collective will have a far larger impact.

I see you also shared your personal actions, "So, something I've been doing in my own yard is making simple, small changes that I can see are actually having some big impacts on my area."

This thread is showing what usually happens when people consider action without themselves doing something under their control. They overwhelmingly talk about academic, abstract stuff without acting.

Big things do more than small things, but I find the fastest, most effective way to lead people to do big things is to start doing small things.

Everyone reading these words has in mind something he or she wants to do but hasn't. If everyone reading made a SMART goal out of one of those things and achieved it, I bet it would lead to more action on a big thing faster than all the discussion already in this thread because they will have felt the emotional reward of accomplishment, instead of activating their discussion and debate motivations.

True. I think we're also suffering from a lack of knowledge about where to start. And also, the scale of this problem is so MASSIVE that it's difficult to even conceive of, let alone how to go about fixing it. There are so many great ideas! Which one to focus on?

If I could get my in-laws to stop flying so much (literally, more than one major flight each month so far for each of them!) I'll feel like I've accomplished a major win. :)

As for me, I'm getting over my second bout of strep throat so I've been a little absent. Bleh. Hope to be back up to brainstorming ideas and actually doing something concrete when I'm a little less overwhelmed by bacterial invasion.

JoshuaSpodek

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #24 on: November 14, 2018, 02:11:42 PM »
True. I think we're also suffering from a lack of knowledge about where to start. And also, the scale of this problem is so MASSIVE that it's difficult to even conceive of, let alone how to go about fixing it. There are so many great ideas! Which one to focus on?

If I could get my in-laws to stop flying so much (literally, more than one major flight each month so far for each of them!) I'll feel like I've accomplished a major win. :)

As for me, I'm getting over my second bout of strep throat so I've been a little absent. Bleh. Hope to be back up to brainstorming ideas and actually doing something concrete when I'm a little less overwhelmed by bacterial invasion.

What I emailed one of my listeners this morning is relevant:

Quote
Every guest who changes their habits to act on their environmental values says the same thing: start with something, but act, and plan to build.

Planning, analyzing, and considering options never works as well as doing something. Acting increases your awareness more than awareness leads to action -- the opposite of what most expect.

Your comfort will increase as your habits take root.

The way to reduce paper towels is two-fold. First, use a sponge. Second, don't buy any more paper towels. Not having them will force you to answer your question better than abstract thinking.

I'll bet you anything that after you shift, you'll wish you had acted earlier instead of planning.

Let me know how it goes.

The cycle on this thread you illustrated with "There are so many great ideas! Which one to focus on?" happens everywhere. I view it like someone learning to play piano. There are so many pieces you could learn. How do you decide between Beethoven, Chopin, and Ellington?

Actually, every teacher I know of starts their students with scales. Starting with what you can and what works leads to everything else.

Since you threw down the gauntlet -- that is, started this thread -- what do you think about reading what people have written so far, reflecting, and distilling it into a modest-sized project to start. Some will like it. Others won't. If it's doable enough and a core team finishes it, you or the team can pick a bigger one the next time.

The best way I know to solve a complex problem is to solve a simple but relevant one and build on what you learned to solve a more complex one and repeat until you solve a big one.

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #25 on: November 15, 2018, 10:00:24 AM »
The cycle on this thread you illustrated with "There are so many great ideas! Which one to focus on?" happens everywhere. I view it like someone learning to play piano. There are so many pieces you could learn. How do you decide between Beethoven, Chopin, and Ellington?

Actually, every teacher I know of starts their students with scales. Starting with what you can and what works leads to everything else.

Since you threw down the gauntlet -- that is, started this thread -- what do you think about reading what people have written so far, reflecting, and distilling it into a modest-sized project to start. Some will like it. Others won't. If it's doable enough and a core team finishes it, you or the team can pick a bigger one the next time.

The best way I know to solve a complex problem is to solve a simple but relevant one and build on what you learned to solve a more complex one and repeat until you solve a big one.

That's a really good idea. I sort of want to do things democratically, with a vote, but at the same time I feel like that would get bogged down and lead to arguing or feelings being hurt if someone's idea wasn't voted on "enough". Because we're all silly like that, every one of us humans.

I'll re-read the thread and think about what would be the most doable thing to start with.

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #26 on: November 15, 2018, 11:10:57 AM »
@SisterX, would it help for those of us who are interested to PM you some sort of mini-resume, in case the skills or connections we have are relevant to choices, and what sort of time commitment we're capable of?

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #27 on: November 15, 2018, 04:30:21 PM »
That sounds great! If I know what resources, talents, and skills we've got it will definitely be easier to pick something that's within the group's wheelhouse, and feasible.

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #28 on: December 29, 2018, 10:34:59 PM »
I'm in Australia, same as Fresh Bread but willing to help if I can

I had a look around Joshua's website. My favourite line so far is from the main page "I'm friendly and my cooking is to die for, so invite yourself over when you're near Greenwich Village." Rad!

Also on one of the pages he talks about how writing is taking action, while reading isn't(my favourite way to pass time!) so I'm purposefully adding my name to the list

Goodluck SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #29 on: December 30, 2018, 12:04:29 AM »
Sorry, I've been very absent on this thread! It's been a hell of a December. I am still mulling over actions to take however. Getting started is the trickiest part, because how? Or do I just go with an existing organization and try to get the message out?

In the meantime, here are some cool projects I've been reading about recently:

-A project to make and plant clones of some of the biggest redwoods, which were cut down. (Link to an article about that specific project.)
-The project to clean plastic out of the oceans--still in beta testing
-A promising method of afforestation that's supposed to work really fast
-Using permaculture to reverse desertification (so many different ways to do that!)
-Looking into charities that support education, particularly of girls.

I've also been looking up ways to create better habitat for insects in my area, so I'm going to dedicate some time and resources toward making an insect house and a mason bee colony. I'm also going to re-do some of the landscaping in my yard, and add a bunch of native wildflowers.

As a small act, I've been de-trashing (that is, picking up garbage) while out walking in my neighborhood. I realized that it didn't have to be a big thing, I could just pick up bits of litter while out walking the dog. I'm already carrying a bag of poop, might as well throw some actual garbage in there as well. (I can't currently compost the dog poop.)

Last, I've identified a few places where I could potentially do some guerrilla gardening. Mostly planting wildflowers, but perhaps I could plant a few trees, or even some vegetables? (There are homeless people living at one of the areas.)

AND YES, these are small personal actions when I said I didn't want to do that or focus on that--I still don't. But before we get anything else going, they're some ideas for things that we, as a group, can do. Small actions in the meantime are better than doing nothing while trying to come up with bigger ways to change the world. I've also been discussing this stuff more with friends both IRL and online, so hopefully creating cascading actions?

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #30 on: December 30, 2018, 01:06:16 AM »
Read this fascinating article earlier and was struck by this line - '“The key insight,” they write, “is that marginal, incremental improvements in energy and carbon efficiency cannot do the job and that what is needed is a structural transformation.” In other words, 2 degrees requires radicalism.'

Well then.

Malaysia41

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #31 on: December 30, 2018, 01:09:16 AM »
Sorry I haven't been active on here - I've been up to my neck with my campaign to lobby congress to end animal ag subsidies. (here's an interview with the venerable newsgrowl mag: https://newsgrowl.com/laura-reese-lobbyists4good-interview ).

As I research, it's clear that reforestation should be a high priority in this movement - so lots of the projects listed by SisterX in the post above are worth looking into.

And as always, every time you eat lentils rather than beef, and drink oatmilk rather than cow's milk, you are reducing your part in major GHG emissions. Well, you would be, if your taxes weren't paying for beef and cow's milk production regardless of your purchasing decisions. But hey - I'm working on that! In the meantime, find plant based alternatives to cow-based products and we'll all be rowing in the same direction.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2018, 01:12:14 AM by Malaysia41 »

Malaysia41

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #32 on: December 30, 2018, 01:11:19 AM »
Read this fascinating article earlier and was struck by this line - '“The key insight,” they write, “is that marginal, incremental improvements in energy and carbon efficiency cannot do the job and that what is needed is a structural transformation.” In other words, 2 degrees requires radicalism.'

Well then.

I'm telling you - extinctionrebellion https://rebellion.earth

and -https://www.sunrisemovement.org.

It's time to join both of these groups.

Also - if you are in the US - call your 3 federal level reps and demand a Green New Deal that includes ending coal use on the power grid, a steep carbon tax, ending animal ag subsidies, and transitioning to clean energy 100% by 2030, and serious protections for our forests.

(Or your own list of radical system transforming measures)
« Last Edit: December 30, 2018, 01:14:30 AM by Malaysia41 »

JoshuaSpodek

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #33 on: December 30, 2018, 04:10:33 PM »
I had a look around Joshua's website. My favourite line so far is from the main page "I'm friendly and my cooking is to die for, so invite yourself over when you're near Greenwich Village." Rad!

Rad now, but I hope regular. Here's a video of someone who took me up on it.

The mother of a friend who hosted me in California, whom I cooked for, wrote for how to make the stews. Here was my response to get her started.

Incidentally, Fortune 100 corporations are now working with me to help them become more sustainable, improve morale, improve customer relations, lower costs, etc. They're starting to see their leaders can't get compliance without changing themselves, which they can see happening in my podcast.

cats

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #34 on: December 31, 2018, 04:09:18 PM »

Also - if you are in the US - call your 3 federal level reps and demand a Green New Deal that includes ending coal use on the power grid, a steep carbon tax, ending animal ag subsidies, and transitioning to clean energy 100% by 2030, and serious protections for our forests.


This.  I don't think there are enough people genuinely interested in reducing their carbon footprint that we're going to solve climate change without the government stepping in and making it less financially attractive to use greenhouse gases.  We need a carbon tax.  It seems there is more and more of a push for a green power grid at the state and local level, but I don't see the carbon tax really taking off without federal action.  So many people will nod and say climate change is a problem while continuing to insist that they can't do without XYZ (their own personal car, meat several times a day, a wardrobe full of clothing shipped here from overseas, flying).  I'm guilty of some of that too.  If those behaviors actually cost more, people would certainly figure out how to cut back, even people who don't care about the environment (which, let's face it...is a LOT of people).

The House actually introduced a carbon tax bill in November 2018, though it didn't get very far.  Consider calling/writing your representative to ask that they support reintroducing the legislation ASAP in 2019.  It's the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

Malaysia41

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #35 on: April 18, 2019, 12:21:06 AM »
We are still lobbying Congress to help animal farmers transition to low carbon businesses.

Vice News Coverage: https://youtu.be/MfZB3BrjI74  (That's ME!!!!)

My campaign site if you want to help us fund the second month of lobbying. We are soooo close.
https://www.lobbyists4good.org/animal-ag-subsidies

Hirondelle

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #36 on: July 05, 2019, 04:35:51 AM »
I saw this article today and had to think of this thread: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/adding-1-billion-hectares-forest-could-help-check-global-warming

Apparently planting trees does have the potential to contribute a lot (more than I expected) if done well and there's even enough space on the planet for it. We'd need a helluvalot of trees though and the authors still urge that we should cut emissions asap.

@SisterX do you have any updates on your efforts?

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #37 on: July 05, 2019, 02:59:21 PM »
We are still lobbying Congress to help animal farmers transition to low carbon businesses.

Vice News Coverage: https://youtu.be/MfZB3BrjI74  (That's ME!!!!)

My campaign site if you want to help us fund the second month of lobbying. We are soooo close.
https://www.lobbyists4good.org/animal-ag-subsidies

This is fantastic! Bravo!

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #38 on: July 05, 2019, 03:24:37 PM »
I saw this article today and had to think of this thread: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/adding-1-billion-hectares-forest-could-help-check-global-warming

Apparently planting trees does have the potential to contribute a lot (more than I expected) if done well and there's even enough space on the planet for it. We'd need a helluvalot of trees though and the authors still urge that we should cut emissions asap.

@SisterX do you have any updates on your efforts?

Other than personal actions, not much. The TL;DR is that I took over as my mother's caretaker and power of attorney, because she has early onset Alzheimer's and is now in the final stage of her illness. It's been a lot. The longer version is in my journal, but I haven't even had time to update that very much lately.

I would love to keep pursuing this, but I also realize that it's bigger than me and I just have so much going on in my personal life right now.


____

The personal actions that have been the most impactful in the last year are:

1. A much, much bigger garden. Veggie garden, but also lots more flowers and herbs, creating habitat for bugs and birds. Plus, a worm bin.

2. A cargo ebike! I can take the kids on it. I live in a very hilly area, even for Seattle, or I'd scrap the e part of that and just have a cargo bike. But the motor helps me get the kids up the hills in a reasonable time, and go quite far. I don't need the car at all for in and around my section of the city.

3. Insulating our house! I knew it would help with heating in the winter, but we don't have AC so I didn't think it would help in summer. However, we've hardly had to pull out the fans at all, and even then it was just in the kids' bedrooms for bedtime since they go to sleep when it's still decently warm. The fans were turned off as soon as the house cooled down.

We're taking one flying trip this year. I looked at how much it would be for me and the kids to take non-flying transporation, but it would have been well over triple the cost. And I'm taking the trip to visit family + scatter my dad's ashes, so it's not "just" a vacation.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #39 on: July 14, 2020, 08:09:33 PM »
This is a fascinating thread with some interesting insights. I’m not an environmentalist by a long shot but this is interesting stuff

Some random thoughts

- radicalism isn’t in doing variations of what other folks are doing, it’s in doing what other folks won’t do, haven’t figured out to do, or think can’t be done.

- environmentalisms huge failure has been marginalizing and repelling those who would be natural allies.

- Guerrilla gardening is a fascinating concept.


Missy B

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #40 on: July 14, 2020, 11:27:45 PM »
Very useful resource that looks at studies on human psychology and behavioural change to show you how effective ways to influence people around you at a local level.
Two of my takeaways:
-It only takes 4% of a population doing a behaviour to get noticed and get traction.
-People are way more likely to do a behaviour if someone else is already doing it (but not telling them they should)

https://newsociety.com/books/f/fostering-sustainable-behavior

clarkfan1979

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #41 on: July 18, 2020, 09:05:11 AM »
Very useful resource that looks at studies on human psychology and behavioural change to show you how effective ways to influence people around you at a local level.
Two of my takeaways:
-It only takes 4% of a population doing a behaviour to get noticed and get traction.
-People are way more likely to do a behaviour if someone else is already doing it (but not telling them they should)

https://newsociety.com/books/f/fostering-sustainable-behavior

The website listed above is an excellent place to start. Doug McKenzie-Mohr is the leading expert on community based social marketing. Starting small with community support is one of the most effective ways for behavior change. His area of expertise is environmental behaviors, but the model can be applied to any behavior. 

I have a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. My area of study in graduate school was behavior change in the areas of health behaviors (smoking, drinking, handwashing) and environmental behaviors (recycling, residential energy use, wind power adoption, car tire maintenance, re-using hotel towels).

If you are looking for more ideas, I would look at the website of the American Council for and Energy Efficient Economy https://www.aceee.org/ It's a non-profit in D.C. that aims to lower the carbon footprint in the United States by running independent studies and using the data to influence public policy within environmental issues. They offered me a job there when I was fresh out of grad school. I turned it down because it wasn't enough money to live in D.C. They doubled the starting salary since they offered me the job in 2011. Psychology struggles to get respect, until people realize that understanding human behavior is probably the most important piece.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #42 on: July 18, 2020, 01:41:36 PM »
I've been reading about native gardening recently, and I think one person could start a change in their neighborhood. Get people together from native plant societies, local gardening groups, neighborhood associations, and organize people on your block to set up a wildlife corridor and plant native flowers in your parking strips. It doesn't seem radical, but getting people to give up their grass lawns and ornamental plants is a big mindset change.

It also avoids the problem of people thinking nature is elsewhere. Like, we need to protect the forests and parks, but my suburb isn't nature. It could be, though! There are so few untouched areas, we need to make human living spaces habitats for wildlife.

SisterX

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #43 on: July 18, 2020, 02:37:21 PM »
I've been reading about native gardening recently, and I think one person could start a change in their neighborhood. Get people together from native plant societies, local gardening groups, neighborhood associations, and organize people on your block to set up a wildlife corridor and plant native flowers in your parking strips. It doesn't seem radical, but getting people to give up their grass lawns and ornamental plants is a big mindset change.

It also avoids the problem of people thinking nature is elsewhere. Like, we need to protect the forests and parks, but my suburb isn't nature. It could be, though! There are so few untouched areas, we need to make human living spaces habitats for wildlife.

Doug Tallamy? I read a book by him and it definitely inspired me to add more native plants to my yard. I started small this year (due to the pandemic, really) but I've got a couple of new native flowers in my yard.

Seattle actually has a rebate system for putting in "rain gardens" (which rely on native plants) and other systems to help manage and support both our native wildlife and our rainfall/watersheds. Which isn't to say that we couldn't be doing even more, but I walk around my neighborhood and it's eye-opening to see how many native plants there are and understand how it's helping the biodiversity in our area stay relatively high.

Setting it up as a neighborhood group seems like a great idea. I wonder what would be the best way to organize that? Facebook seems like the obvious choice (there are already a lot of neighborhood groups on there) but I really hate FB and don't want to do more on that site.


I'm not doing anything too radical at the moment, but I got permission to do the school garden at my kid's school after things shut down. Since there weren't any kids, and likely won't be any/many in the fall, we're growing food for the community. I've delivered 4 medium-large bags of mixed greens and some turnips to the food distribution site for our school. Not every family wants or can utilize fresh food (homeless families, for one, would have a hard time cooking them) but some families were asking. Fighting malnutrition, unhealthy eating habits, and just plain hunger feels like a step in the right direction.

Several teachers volunteered to help with this project too. All the seeds and starts were donated so it's truly a community project. Such a small thing, but I imagine it doesn't feel small to the families who've been getting fresh veggies through us.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #44 on: July 18, 2020, 02:52:32 PM »
Yup, Tallamy! Also Eileen Stark: http://www.realgardensgrownatives.com/

All of my groups are on FB, so I don't have any better ideas. Go where the people are! I've heard about some cool things through fb group rabbit holes, like a weed pullers group for my local forest park. Otherwise I've heard about initiatives and groups by reading neighborhood association minutes, going to events (not really possible now), and seeing flyers and signs like the backyard habitat association.

Some people in my area put out abundance tables, with free starts and seeds. Could be one way to find people interested in gardening.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #45 on: July 18, 2020, 06:30:06 PM »
I like the abundance table concept. Someone did that in my neighborhood this year with tomato and zucchini plants.  Combine that with some guerrilla gardening and you’ve got something cool going.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: Radical environmental work - help wanted
« Reply #46 on: July 18, 2020, 07:11:03 PM »
I just heard about a guerrilla gardening group here! I want to rustle up some native wildflower seeds and seed-bomb some of planters in the middle of roundabouts. I was also talking with the bf about creating a little seed library.

I'm also interested in the idea of a food forest, which Lhamo mentioned upthread. Both local, as a way of getting fresh food to communities without much access otherwise, and internationally, as a way to reverse desertification. We've got a lot of community gardens with individual plots, but they're pricey, and groups like Portland Fruit Tree Project and fallenfruit.org, but even volunteering with some orgs can cost money. There's no one spot that's self-sustaining and specifically for anyone to take.

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Trying to brainstorm ideas that would work beyond my immediate neighborhood, as we dont have parking strips.  we do get a fair amount of foot traffic (people on their way to/from the BG Trail)....

@lhamo - A few neighbors have mini-community gardens, and not all have parking strips. One has a raised bed set up on her lawn, outside of her fence. I know this comment was a couple years ago, but would that be an option?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!